Post-game report: Saints 24, 49ers 3

The overall theme among the 49ers’ offense and coach Jim Harbaugh is they were stunned that the New Orleans Saints would blitz so much, this being a preseason opener and all.

But the 49ers weren’t necessarily accusing the Saints of unsportsmanlike conduct. Harbaugh even chimed in that the Saints “are allowed to do that.” What the Saints did was thoroughly pressure Smith and his successor after five series, rookie Colin Kaepernick.

“We had some error in protection,” Harbaugh said. “When it comes down to it, with them brining seven (pass rushers), we need to make them pay for that. We’ve got to do a better job protecting the quarterback. Six sacks, six hurries. It wasn’t just one guy. There were protection issues were a guy came free, sometimes it was the backs, sometime the linemen.”

I get into this in more detail in the game story I just wrote. And for you positive thinkers, I wrote about the 49ers’ defensive stand in the first quarter against a potent Saints offense. But I also wanted to share some some quotes and notes after the locker room access.

— “They brought a lot of pressure tonight and we didn’t handle it well, especially early,” Smith said. “They brought pressure and we weren’t expecting all that, especially for a first game. But we had to deal with it and we didn’t. It will be good to learn from. You have to be on it when you’re getting pressure like that. Everyone has to be exact.”

— The starting field position for Smith’s five series: 20-yard line, 8, 12, 13, 13. Said Smith: “It was tough. Those first few drives we were backed up, and that just made it worse. We needed to find a way to get first downs and in a rhythm.”

— Kaepernick also talked about the search for a rhythm in his NFL debut. He handed off the ball five times before attempting a pass, which he completed to Lance Long on a 20-yard laser over the middle. “I really didn’t have butterflies going in. I was just excited,” Kaepernick said. “When we started all runs, I was thinking he just wanted to get me comfortable. (Lance Long) had a great route and made a great catch. That was the start of let’s get comfortable. But we never got into a rhythm after that.”

— Kaepernick on the Saints blitzes: “We just weren’t quite ready for them to come cover-zero, cover-one blitzing on almost every play. That was something we had to adjust to on the fly. After the first couple drives with Alex in there, I knew they’d be coming after us. Once their (second-string defense) went in, I thought they’d go to more base stuff and calm the blitzes down, but they kept coming. We weren’t quite ready and had to adjust.”

— The 49ers went 4-0 last preseason, the prelude to a 6-10 regular season that saw Mike Singletary get dismissed with a game to go. Said Smith: “A month from now, no one was is going to care what your record was in the preseason. We need to take the strides necessary to do what we need to do when the season starts.”

— Adam Snyder played the first two series at center, Jonathan Goodwin took over for the next two, then Snyder came back for two more. Goodwin said it was “definitely a strange thing” to play against the Saints, who employeed him as their full-time center the previous three seasons. He said facing the Saints closed a chapter for him.

— Aldon Smith, the 49ers’ top draft pick, didn’t start at outside linebacker but did have a sack and earned positive reviews from Harbaugh.

— The 49ers didn’t appear to sustain any major injuries. “I come out alright,” Smith said. “We’ll see in the morning. But I feel good.” Tight end Delanie Walker left the locker room with a bandage on his right wrist.

Reality: Kap is still VERY raw, didn’t look half-as-good v. NOH #2s/#3s as “Josh Portis” did against Charger #2/#3s. Also made no impact & did not punish NOH pressure with his legs.

Reality: Snyder is a better backup G/T than he is a starting C — a starting C who MUST read blitz and call out appropriate protections.

Reality: While the 9ers dithered over the signing & re-signing of new/old defensive F/As, they IGNORED obvious protection issues that were readily apparent last year AND readily re-apparent now, with NO apparent “open competition” or F/A additions to improve its weakest links — an egregious oversight for an offense that intends to pass more with 2 x project QBs who’ll need ALL the protection a “brand new” offense requires.

latopia

“Also made no impact & did not punish NOH pressure with his legs.”

Sorry. Forgot the 28-yd tuck-and-run which DID yield an FG.

Gopal

Is Chase Beeler from stanford on the roster?

Didn’t notice him on the field, but then again I stopped watching closely after the first half.

I’m not expecting this team to hit its stride until week 8 or 9.

They’re still at the very beginning of a long learning process.

4th and 1

FACT: We can not pass block.

I blame Harbaugh for this one. Defense looked good though.

niner

Smith has always had problems with pressure. Time to put on your big boy pants now. Either he can handle the pressure or he cant. This experiment is getting really old. Per Einstein: doing the same thing ( smith at qb) and expecting different results, is the definition of insanity.

im old school i guess : results > excuses.

Ray Finkle

Are they really complaining about an NFL team blitzing???? Sounds like a cop out for being totally unprepared. Hope it gets better…….

RednGold

Harbaugh has good memory on this one. Fangio will burry Brees next time. Don’t know when but it’s coming…

Dawg

O line is a joke.
To think we picked A. Davis before Upati.??
This game doesnt mean a thing but 2 things are for sure, Alexis is who we thought he was and Tom Brady would get killed with our o line

latopia

Dawg on August 13th, 2011 at 10:27 am says: “This game doesnt mean a thing but 2 things are for sure, Alexis is who we thought he was and Tom Brady would get killed with our o line”

—

Agreed. But this is not a typical preseason.

With no minicamps or OTAs and the *real* season only 1 x month away, *this* preseason does have a what-u-see-is-what-u-get feel to it.

And what we saw last night? Pretty scary if you’re a 9er fan whose team, at one point, seemed content to start the season with only 2 x QBs — one a marginal vet who already tore 1 cuff, the other a rookie who can barely take a snap without falling over his feet, much less master the art of disguising handoffs, selling fakes, executing play-action.

JasonXFlash49

Just a practice. Akers looks good. Wait til regular season and we’ll weight in on Alexis and companies.

Last few yrs. we loods good in pre-season n we’re totally sucks when it counts.

Some good team started 0-4 in preason and make the playoffs….

Let’s give coach J.H. 3yrs.. We’ve been waiting for so long anyway. Now we got the COACH….

whocares

@niner…
Did you watch the game?
Are you making excuses for the OL?
Blame it on the QB seems to be the excuse for the the Niners’ loss.
Until the OL can pass protect, they are the problem.

MauiDave

Not an auspicious debut for Harbaugh. The Niners looked totally unprepared on offense. How can the O line suck that much? Hard to blame the QBs when you have to throw off your back or scramble for your life every play.

sophrosyne

Lack of an off-season has really hurt the Niners. Still, Alex does look like the Alex of old.

latopia

Alex Smith should zip it up re “practice” counts. Ditto any other 9er using practice counts as an excuse.

The Broncos and Raiders hired new coaches who installed new systems.

Yet, BOTH appeared much more competitive and better prepared in their preseason debuts.

“Practice” counts are what they are: excuses.

al oha

Anthony Davis needs to get in shape and turn that baby fat into muscle.

He looks soft.

After trading up last year to get him and giving him a large multi-year contract (5-years $26.5 million), it his RESPONSIBILITY to get the optimum from himself and work his tail off.

Chilo may be hopeless, definitely not Harbaugh’s preferred player who once played under Pete Carroll. I look for Snyder to move over and take his job as soon as Goodwin is up to speed. That would improve two spots on the OL.

The 49ers need to trade for Josh Johnson. Tampa Bay will let him go for the right price, he’s a FA next season. Alex can’t get it done. Regardless of changing Offensive Coordinators on him repeatedly, I’ve NEVER seen him lead the Team to a meaningful score late in the game. Good guy, smart, speaks well enough, but just can’t get it done.

Kaepernick doesn’t look like he matches in the West Coast Offense, to me. He is talented, has a “hose” for an arm, and runs well. But, a hallmark of the Walsh’s WCO is a short passing game. Colin doesn’t look smooth and accurate throwing short passes. Then again, it is hard to look smooth when your Gold Standard is Joe Montana. He may be the smoothest looking QB in the history of the game. Accuracy, poise, coordination, timing, and confidence. The Ultimate QB in the best System with a once-in-a-lifetime Leader for a Coach.
We, as 49er Fans, are spoiled forever.

Hopefully, Jim Harbaugh is next best thing. I like him alot.

al oha

The 49ers look like they are in the hunt of Andrew Luck. But, their Defense will win enough games to take them out of the running, unless for some reason his Draft stock drops.

I am liking K. Hunter. Word about from Big 12 fans was very positive and I can see why. He will be a good change of pace back for Gore and I think will be the #2 RB at some point this season.

latopia

Watching Browns v. Pack.

Wow. Colt McCoy just engineered a drive that was textbook WCO.

So the Browns, Broncos, Raiders hired new coaches who installed new systems (Jackson’s offense is a different animal with Cable gone) — but the 9ers & their media sycophants (Maiocco, Barrows) are using “practice” counts to explain their debut debacle? REALLY?

Kevin Lynch -“All of this brings up another question, why would the Saints blitz so much?”

Why wouldn’t they? ibid. Denver v. Dallas: Blitz blitz blitz.

The Pack brought pressure on Cleveland’s first series.

9ers should just man up, work harder, get better and shut-up about preseason blitzing and/or practice counts.